Hat-nesting display-rack.



R. PARKER, J11. HAT NESTING DISPLAY RAUL 1,026,]- 16. Q 139110111011 FILED SEPT. 25, 1911. Patehted May 14, 1912' 4 BHEBTBBHEET 1.

! PVJTNESSES t w {@i COLUMIIA PLANOORAPH (10.,WASHINGTON, D. C.

R. PARKER, JR. HAT NESTING DISPLAY RACK. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 25, 1911.

Patented May 14, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

coLuMmA PLANOGRAPH COQWASHINDTONI D. c.

R. PARKER, JR. HAT NESTING DISPLAY RACK.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 25, 1911.

Patented May 14, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WITNESSES 1 Home) R. PARKER, JR- HAT NESTING DISPLAY BACK.

I Q 7 LPPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 25, 1911, v 7 1,026, 1 1 6. Patented May 14, 1912.

4 BHEET8SHBET 4.

'mmwmzkfi [AWE/Vim:

A iiar'rwg Cb AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA c.

ROBERT PARKER, JR., 0F STERLING, COLORADO.

HAT-NESTING DISPLAY-RACK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 25, 1911.

Patented May 14, 1912.

Serial No. 651,146.

To all whom 2'25 may concern Be it known that I, ROBERT PARKER, J r., a citizen of the United States, residing at Sterling, in the county of Logan and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hat-Nesting Display-Racks, of which the following is a' specification.

My invention relates to improvements in hat nesting display racks, its object being to provide a collapsible rack, which, when extended, will hold a number of/ hats separately displayed, and which, when collapsed, will automatically nest the hats one within another without displacing them from their supports, or disturbing their position, thereby enabling a large number of hats or caps to be rapidly and conveniently handled as a whole, and to be quickly packed away in a trunk for transportation or removed from the trunk for inspection and display.

In order to nest hats, one within another, it is customary and necessary to compress and vertically crease or indent the side wall of the hat at two opposite points. This is commonly done by drawing the fingers up the side wall of the cap from near the brim to the top of the crown.

In carrying out the present invention I have provided collapsible means for sup porting the hats one above another and also means for guiding and mechanically and automatically compressing and indenting the sides of the hats as the rack is collapsed so that the hat-s will nest of themselves without manual handling.

More particularly the invention consists in the construction combination, and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the annexed drawings showing one embodiment of the invention, Figure 1 is a front elevation of the display rack in extended position, parts being removed; Fig. 2 is a vertical section on line 2-2 of.Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a frontelevation showing the rack collapsed; Fig. 4: is a plan view thereof; Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail perspective view showing the connections between the hat rests or supports; Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail elevation of the hinge shown in Fig. 6; Fig.8 is a central vertical section of the structure shown in Fig. 7 Fig. 9 is an enlarged detail plan view of a portion of the base; Fig. 10 is an elevation of the structure shown in Fig. 9; Fig. 11 is a detail sectional view on line 11-11 of Fig. 9; Fig. 12 is an enlarged perspective view'of a fragment of the rack in collapsed position with no hats therein; and Fig. 13 is a front view, partly in section, on an enlarged scale of a fragment of the rack, when collapsed, showing the position of the creasing guides relatively to the hats.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings the rack comprises a pair of collapsible standards, here shown in the form of lazy tongs, upon and between which are hung skeleton rests'for supporting the hats in vertical alinement as hereinafter described. These standards are supported upon a base consisting of parallel rods 1, which may be of any length, and end plates 2 arranged in pairs resting on their edges and provided with longitudinal horizontally disposed slots 3. These slots terminate short of the inner ends of the plates which overlap, as shown in Figs. 9 and 10, and the ends of the rods 1 are secured in the end plates by any convenient fastening means, such as the cotter pins 4 and washers 5. The end of the front rod 1 is secured in the unslotted portion of the rear end plate and plays in the slot of the forward'end plate, while the end of the rear rod plays in the slot in the rear plate and is secured in the unslotted portion of the front plate, whereby the rods will be caused to approach or recede as the plates are moved longitudinally relatively to each other. Adjacent the end plates, and at intervals along the base rods 1, I fit upon said rods the lower members of lazy tongs 6 composed preferably of narrow flat metal plates or bars. Feet or blocks 7 are secured to one side of each lower lazy tong member to en able the rack to stand firmly when set up. The feet 7 fit around the base rods 1 and are secured thereto by set screws 8 inserted through the lower ends of the feet to engage the rods as shown clearly in Fig. 11. By reason of this construction the lazy tongs may be secured at any desired point along the base rods and any desired number may be employed, and they may extend to any desired height determined by the intended capacity of the device, but it will be understood that the lazy tongs are used in cooptogether at their centers and the links of adjacent pairs being pivoted together at their meeting ends, which is an ordinary construction. The upper ends of the uppermost members of the lazy tongs are connected in series by centrally bowed rods 9 which serve as handles to extend or collapse the lazy tongs, while their bowed portions 10 will fit around the hats when the device is collapsed, as will be understood on reference to Figs. 3 and 1, and will project over the hats when the device is extended, as indicated in Fig. 1. A slight lifting force applied to these connecting handle rods 9 will extend the lazy tongs as shown in Fig. 2, while downward pressure applied thereto will cause the lazy tongs to collapse into the position shown in Figs. 3 and 5.

In order to prevent premature collapse of the device, I provide a latch or series of latches consisting of a lever 11 pivoted on the rear base rod 1 and provided with a notch 12 in its lower edge adapted to engage the forward base rod as shown in Fig. 2, and thereby hold the said rods in their innermost positions and prevent their spreading. It will be noted that when the lazy tongs collapse the base rods are spread apart andthe end plates 2 are thereby drawn together so as to reduce the area of the base and permit the device to be stored in a small space. When the device is extended, the end plates will be projected outwardly as shown in Fig. 2, so as to lend stability to the device.

Upon the ends of the pins 12, which pivotally connect the intersecting links of the lazy tongs, are mounted head blocks or brackets 13 provided with notches 14 in their upper and lower edges. ithin these notches are pivotally secured the ends of the inwardly projecting compression or creasing guides or formers 15 which extend vertically from one block to another, the lower end of the guide being attached to the upper edge of one bracket while the upper end of the guide is attached to the lower edge of the other bracket, as shown in Fig. 6. The pivot pin 17, upon which the upper end of the guide or former is hung, is extended beyond the sides of the block 13, and upon its extended ends are mounted hangers 18 which extend inwardly toward the corresponding hangers upon the adjacent lazy tongs. Supported at each side upon the corresponding hangers of any two adjacent lazy tongs are annular supports or hat rests 19 to receive and hold the hats, the brims of which will rest upon the rings and overlap the hangers. Thus the hat rests will hold the hats in vertical alinement as shown in Fig. 1.

The creasing guides or formers 15 are spring plates having the temper removed from their ends, and having their intermediate portions projected inwardly or laterally from the lazy tongs and bent to form upstanding lips or beaks 16 adapted, when the rack is collapsed, to pass upwardly through the ring immediately above them and into the hollow crown of the hat resting thereon, as best shown in Figs. 12 and 13. The lower portions of the guides or formers extend inwardly over the hat brim, and are given an ogee form in order that they may stand in close proximity to the side wall of the hat and follow the general contour thereof, when the rack is extended. As will be seen from Fig. 1, the corresponding guides on any two adjacent standards or lazy tongs will thus stand close to the side wall on opposite sides of the hat. Now, when the lazy tongs are collapsed, the lower or ogee shaped portion of the guides will move inwardly and upwardly against the side wall of the hat, striking it a little above the brim and working up against the side wall so as to compress itand form a vertical crease or indentation, as best shown in Fig. 13, and thus prepare the hat for nesting within the crown of the hat next above it, this upper hat moving down at the same time over the beaks 16 and telescoping the prepared hat beneath.

In use when the device is extended, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the hats are placed upon the annular rests 19, in which position they will be entirely free and separate from one another so that they can be inspected as they stand or be separately removed from the rests for examination. To accomplish the nesting of the hats, the device is simply permitted to collapse by releasing the latches at the bottom and applying a. slight pressure to the upper ends of the lazy tongs. As the rack collapses, the guides are forced inwardly and upwardly as described, so as to form and crease the sides of the hat as it moves down between them, the beaks 16 at the same time passing up through the ring above and into the hollow crown of the hat thereon, while this upper hat at the same time moves down so as to nest over the prepared hat below as shown in Figs. 12 and 18. It will be noticed that, when the rack is thus collapsed, the guides 15 will stand within the crown of one hat and against the crown of the hat next below, so that they serve to support and hold the nested hats in their proper positions in vertical alinement. The collapsed rack with the hats nested thereon may then be placed within a trunk and will keep the hats in perfect order. To display the hats for inspection by another customer, it is only necessary to lift the rack from the trunk and to extend it as already described. It will be seen that by reason of the construction here shown the hats are automatically nested and again separated or extended without displacing them from their supports or disturbing their position thereon, thus avoiding any manual handling of the hats.

It will be understood that changes may be made in the form and details of the structure here shown without departing from the principle of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims. The term side or sides as applied to the cap is here used generically to indicate any part of the side wall and is not intended to be limited to that portion which stands at the side of the wearers head.

I claim as my invention:

1. A collapsible display rack for hats comprising means for supporting hats in vertical alinement, and means actuated by the collapsing of the rack whereby the hats are enabled to nest one within another when the rack is collapsed.

2. A collapsible display rack for hats comprising means for supporting hats in alinement, and means actuated by the collapsing to shape the hats for nesting and then nest each hat within the hat above it.

3. In a collapsible display rack, the combination with means for supporting hats in alinement, of formers actuated by the collapsing of the rack to compress and indent the sides of the hats, whereby they are enable to nest, one within another, when the rack is collapsed.

4. In a collapsible display rack, the combination with a series of annular hat rests arranged in vertical alinement, of formers disposed on opposite sides of the hat rests and actuated by the collapsing of the rack to move inwardly and thereby compress and indent the sides of the hats to prepare them for nesting, one within another, when the rack is collapsed.

5. A collapsible display rack for hats, adapted, when extended, to hold a series of hats in vertical alinement and spaced apart so as to be separately removable, and means actuated by the collapsing of the rack to compress and indent the opposite sides of the hats so that they will nest, one within another, as the rack is collapsed.

6. A collapsible display rack for hats comprising means for supporting hats in alinement, and mechanical means for compressing and indenting the sides of the hats and thereby enabling them to nest, one with another, when the rack is collapsed.

7. In a collapsible display rack, the combination with a series of annular hat rests arranged in vertical alinement, of oppo sitely disposed formers arranged between the hat rests and adapted, when the rack is collapsed, to move inwardly and upwardly as the hat rests are moved downwardly, whereby to compress and indent the sides of a hat on the rest below them and to enter the crown of a hat on the rest above them 8. A hat nesting display rack comprising a pair of collapsible standards, annular hat rests arranged in vertical alinement and supported upon and between said standards, said rests being spaced apart to support hats in separated relation when the standards are extended, and oppositely disposed spring formers arranged between the rings and projected inwardly from the standards, whereby to compress and indent the sides of a hat placed on the rest below them and to enter the crown of a hat placed on the rest above them, as the standards are collapsed.

9. A hat nesting display rack comprising a pair of collapsible standards, annular hat rests supported upon and between said standards and spaced apart to support hats in separated relation and vertical alinement, and oppositely disposed formers, each comprising a resilient strip bent upon itself and having its ends secured upon the standard at vertically separated points, said formers being projected inwardly toward each other and adapted to compress and indent the sides of a hat placed on the rest below them as the standards are collapsed.

10. The combination of collapsible standards, shelves hung upon and extending between the standards, and means for guiding the article on each shelf to nest within the article on the shelf above it.

11. The combination of collapsible standards, hangers pivotally attached to the standards, and shelves carried by said hangers.

12. The combination of collapsible standards, article supporting means carried by the standards, and means carried by the standards to vertically aline the supported articles.

13. The combination of collapsible standards, article supporting means carried by the standards, and resilient guides carried by the standards and arranged to engage the supported articles and maintain them in vertical alinement.

14:. A collapsible display rack arranged to support articles in vertically spaced relation, and provided with guiding formers having upstanding lips adapted to engage the sides of the a jacent supported articles and to pass upward through the bottoms of superposed articles as the rack collapses.

15. The combination of a plurality of collapsible standards, handle rods connecting the standards and bowed between the same, and article supporting means carried by and between the standards.

16. The combination of a pair of base rods, lazy tongs secured to said rods, article supporting means carried by the lazy tongs, means also carried by said tongs to verticially aline the supported articles, and a latch pivoted on one of said rods and adapted to engage the other base rod. I

17. The combination of collapsible standards, brackets on the standards, hangers pivoted to the brackets, support-s pivoted to the hangers, and formers pivoted to the brackets and projecting laterally therefrom.

18. The combination of collapsible standards, brackets on the standards, hangers pivoted to the brackets, supports pivoted to the hangers, and formers pivoted to the brackets and projecting laterally therefrom, the formers extending between and having their opposite ends pivoted to vertically successive brackets and the pivotal connection between the hangers and the bracket being in common with the pivots of the upper ends of the formers.

19. The combination of a base, collapsible standards secured to and adjustable toward and away from each other transversely of the length of the base and article supporting means carried by the standards.

In testimony whereof I afi'ix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT PARKER, JR.

WVitnesses H. SwANsoN, ARTHUR P. LOTHROP.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

